Daily briefing: Comcast gatecrashes Disney deal, Fed lifts rates, good gossip

Comcast has formally launched a $65bn takeover bid for some of the marquee assets of Twenty-First Century Fox, gatecrashing a deal billionaire Rupert Murdoch had already agreed with Walt Disney and setting the stage for a bidding war.

The long-awaited move by Comcast, which had said it was prepared to top a $52bn stock bid from Disney, comes a day after AT&T’s purchase of HBO and CNN owner Time Warner was approved by a US judge.

Comcast also said that it was willing to match the regulatory commitments that Disney has made to Mr Murdoch’s company, including the payment of a $2.5bn termination fee payable to Fox should a deal be blocked by regulators. It has also offered to pay the $1.5bn fee that Fox would owe Disney should it walk away. The Philadelphia-based company said that its bid, one of the largest all-cash offers in dealmaking history, represented a 19 per cent premium to the current value of Disney’s proposal. Tune into FT’s Behind the Money podcast for its take on the Hunt for Fox. (FT)

In the News

Fed lifts rates and projects four rises for 2018 The Federal Reserve lifted interest rates by a quarter point and signalled that further increases are likely in 2018 as policymakers gave a bullish assessment of the US economy amid accelerating growth and rapid job creation. The Federal Open Market Committee raised the target range for the federal funds rate to 1.75 to 2 per cent. Interest-rate forecasts released by Fed policymakers pointed to a total of four rate rises in 2018, followed by another three in 2019. The Fed also offered a valuable clue to where the size of the US central bank’s balance sheet could be heading in the coming years. (FT)

Summit aftermath “There is no longer a Nuclear Threat from North Korea. Everybody can now feel much safer than the day I took office.” That was the US president’s opinion, once back in Washington from the historic summit with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un. But most experts argued that Donald Trump had failed to secure any concrete steps towards denuclearisation. In fact, there were signs that the two countries were further apart than Mr Trump claimed. Asian leaders gave a broad welcome to the easing of tensions. Meanwhile, what of the poor diplomats working behind the scenes — it doesn’t take much to pick up on their despair, says Roula Khalaf. (FT)

Migration row escalates Italy’s finance minister abruptly cancelled a visit to Paris in a diplomatic spat with France over immigration policy, highlighting the challenge facing EU leaders in dealing with the new populist regime in Rome. Meanwhile, the government of German chancellor Angela Merkel has descended into conflict over asylum policy. And across the pond, Congress is heading for a fresh showdown on immigration. (FT)

WPP shareholders revolt WPP shareholders delivered a severe reprimand to the advertising group’s board when close to 30 per cent voted against its pay report at a lively annual meeting noticeable for the absence of founder and former chief executive Martin Sorrell. A Financial Times investigation this week revealed allegations of workplace bullying and a blurring of lines between personal and work expenditure. Read Lex’s take. (FT)

Landmark gig economy case The UK’s highest court has ruled that a plumber can be classed as a “worker” rather than “self employed” and therefore entitled to certain benefits, in a landmark case that will have wider ramifications for thousands of gig economy workers. It has implications for other gig economy companies, such as food delivery app Deliveroo and car hailing app Uber. Read here why making the law clearer should be embraced by all. (FT)

US prepares for tariffs on China The Trump administration is preparing to levy tariffs on tens of billions of dollars of Chinese goods in the coming week, perhaps as early as Friday, deepening its global trade offensive — a move likely to spark heavy retaliation from Beijing. US trade representative Robert Lighthizer is due to release the final list of targeted goods. But Mr Trump hasn’t given his final approval and could have second thoughts. (WSJ)

Retail shares riding high Retail’s not dead. Shares of Macy’s are beating Amazon, while other old-school US retailers, such as Kohl’s have also rallied sharply this year. This runs counter to the consensus view that the old retail model faces significant challenges over time. (FT)

The day ahead

ECB meeting The European Central Bank will wrap up its meeting in Riga with an interest rate decision, followed by a news conference with ECB president Mario Draghi. Policy is likely to remain on hold but the governing council will start discussing whether to end bond purchases after September ahead of a decision in July.

Keep up with the important business, economic and political stories in the coming days with the FT’s Week Ahead.

What we’re reading

America survived Nixon and Clinton probes — but this one is different The US is a system of laws before it is a democracy, says Janan Ganesh. But democracy must come first when taking on Donald Trump. Most senior Democrats believe the president has to be defeated in open electoral combat — a more legalistic removal risks fouling the atmosphere of public life for decades. (FT)

On the ball He has called Canada’s Justin Trudeau “dishonest” and “weak”, and Mexican migrants “rapists” and criminals. But on Wednesday, Donald Trump swapped hardball for football after a US-led bid to secure the 2026 World Cup succeeded with help from his neighbours. Back to the present. Don’t miss Simon Kuper’s daily reports from across Russia as this year’s competition kicks off in Moscow — and how some fans have been giving a thumbs up to the Russian capital. But what about those sanctions? Russia is being handed a month-long opportunity to show that western attempts to isolate it have failed. (FT, Guardian)

School’s out. Forever For the first time since the 1800s, the village of Arena in rural Wisconsin has no school. A similar scene is playing out across rural America, as officials in ageing communities with stretched budgets bus children to larger towns. Rural schools have been closing in waves for decades, but the debate has taken on sharp urgency this year. (NYT)

Macron’s ministers flag up Paris appeal French president Emmanuel Macron and his ministers have been extolling the appeal of Paris over London after Brexit and their efforts clearly seem to be paying off, says Sarah Gordon. Away from the cross-channel tug of war, read Roger Blitz’s take on how the growing rift between the US and Europe ought to be prompting harder thinking on all sides. In some domestic drama, UK opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn suffered a rebellion. (FT)

Gossiping is good Word on the street is that gossip is the worst. But a significant body of research indicates that gossip may in fact be healthy. (Atlantic)

Race for Congress It was a good night on Tuesday for women candidates in the US primaries. Catch up on the statistics as the US heads for the November midterm elections. (USA Today, FT)

Britain must denounce abuse of its old colonial laws After the six year sentence handed to Hong Kong activist Edward Leung, Paddy Ashdown writes that one of the most effective tools in the armoury of authoritarian regimes and the enemies of democracy are colonial-era laws, little more than cut and paste jobs from British and Dutch colonial rule. (FT)

How Beijing is winning control of South China Sea While America talks, China builds. Beijing’s network of military facilities in the South China Sea continues to grow. And while the US is countering this with the promotion of its “Indo-Pacific strategy”, it might be too little too late to stop China’s dominance of the region. (Nikkei Asian Review)

Burns, the depressive bard Robert Burns, Scotland’s “national bard”, once expressed his longing for the gift to “see oursels as ithers see us”. More than 200 years later, academic analysis of the poet’s correspondence — he described his low moods as “blue devilism” — suggests he endured severe mood swings in which he flipped between depression and hypomania. (The Times)

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